Abel

Thick-rimmed glasses, held by bands wrapped around his skull so that combat cannot shake them loose, define Abel's look and earn him his nickname. Blond hair is kept short, and rough stubble shadows his chin and cheekbones. His frame is unremarkable, average in height with a light complexion, and he dresses in Survey Corps gear with the green cloak the Corps uses on expeditions.

Duty defines Abel. A committed soldier who holds steady under fire, he earns enough confidence from the Corps' leadership to be brought along whenever stakes turn serious, from the safehouse where Eren and Historia hide from the government to the operation mounted to recover them after their capture. A streak of cynicism surfaces around the Military Police: when Marlowe Freudenberg and Hitch Dreyse press him for details after the battle in Stohess, he refuses to brief low-ranking soldiers and tells them to fetch a superior, adding a jab about whether that officer would even be sober.

Abel rides with the cart guard detail on the Survey Corps' 57th expedition beyond the Walls, protecting the special target restraining weapon at the heart of Erwin Smith's secret plan. When the captured Female Titan screams and draws a horde toward her, he joins the futile effort to hold the Titans off, pulling back exhausted once Erwin gives the order. He later chases Annie Leonhart when she transforms inside Stohess District, breaking off only when flying debris makes the pursuit suicidal, then keeps watch over her crystallized body after her defeat.

During the Wall Rose crisis he fights at Utgard Castle and in the clash against the Colossus and Armored Titans, weaving around the Colossus Titan's fist until its scalding steam drives the attackers away. In the Royal Government arc he assists Hange's Titan experiments on Eren and sits in on the meetings that put Historia on the path to the throne. Assigned to track Eren and Historia after the Military Police seize them, Abel is monitoring from a rooftop when Kenny Ackerman's squad springs its trap, and a shot through the head kills him.

He is seen again among the fallen comrades in Erwin's thoughts during the battle at Shiganshina, in Hange's memory while arguing against Eren's plan to flatten the world, and in Levi's final vision, where the dead of the Survey Corps salute the captain before fading away. Though never shown cutting down a Titan on panel, his survival across five years of expeditions and his placement on classified missions mark him as a proven and dependable soldier.